Ramallah – On October 29th, Israeli occupation soldiers entered the village of Ar Rakeez in the South Hebron Hills and ordered a number of Palestinian workers to stop working on a water cistern.
The owner of the cistern, Said Mohammed Raba’, refused to do so and continued working. He was subsequently beaten up, handcuffed, and taken to the Kiryat Arba police station, where he was charged with aggression.
According to a press release from Operation Dove, a non-violent Peace Corps that has maintained international presence in the South Hebron Hills since 2004, the stop order was never given by the DCO, (the Israeli District Coordination Office that deals with civilian administration in the Occupied Territories).
Operation Dove clarifies that when the international peace activists arrived to the village at 6 pm, Said Raba’ was beaten by three soldiers and a policeman. While he was forced down on his knees and handcuffed, dozens of Palestinians protested his arrest.
Raba´s 21 year old daughter was brought to the hospital after the Israeli soldiers beat her. Although she does not suffer from serious injuries, she still has abdominal pain from where she was hit.
The recurring demolitions orders in the South Hebron Hills
A recent report launched by Operation Dove gives an overview about the increasing violent attacks towards Palestinians in the South Hebron area from settlers from the settlement Ma’on and the outpost Havat Ma’on.
The settlement of Ma’on was established in 1982 and many Palestinians were forced to leave their homes in the area. In July 1999, the outpost Havat Ma’on was created by a group of settlers from the Ma’on settlement. Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced a demolition of the illegal outpost but it was rebuilt by settlers few months later.
The report states that since the year 2004, Operation Dove volunteers have witnessed violence and abuses against Palestinian people and properties.
“The settlers have destroyed Palestinian fields and olive tree groves, damaged structures, poisoned water cisterns and pastures, burned crops, stolen and killed animals, threatened and attacked Palestinians obstructing them from freely reach their lands. Havat Ma’on settlers’ crimes have always been unpunished,” the report details.
After the Israeli army left Ar Rakeez with Raba’, around fifty Palestinians gathered and continued to work on the damaged water cistern, which now is completed.
Said Raba’ is still in prison, awaiting trial.